Hiking America on the Great American Rail-Trail
We're creating GPS navigation for the Great American Rail Trail's 81 gaps to support Bernie Krausse's first thru-hike later next month. The trail is 56% complete from D.C. to Washington State — viable for thru-hiking now with the right route data.
Here's what we've been working on lately, and I think it might interest some of you.
For the past few months, I've been deep into route planning for the Great American Rail-Trail — the 3,700-mile cross-country route from Washington, D.C. to Washington State. The Great American is already 56% complete, which means it's viable for thru-hiking right now.
GREEN - Completed Great American Rail-Trails, RED - Hiking America Gap tracks
One day, it will be a fully connected trail, but until then, there are 81 gaps (above in RED) between existing trail sections where hikers need navigation support.
Bernie Krausse — triple crown hiker and ADT thru-hiker (Class of 2022) — and currently hiking the Camino de Santiago, is planning to be the first person to thru-hike the Great American Rail-Trail beginning in early March. Hiking America is creating the hiker's guide with GPS tracks and turn-by-turn navigation to fill those gaps, supporting his journey and anyone else who wants to tackle this route while it's still coming together.
Our Gap Tracks closely follow the vision outlined in the Great American Rail-Trail Route Assessment, indicating where future trail sections are planned. Bernie will be verifying these routes on the ground during his thru-hike. Think of it as adding the same detailed waypoint data and verified routing we provide for the ADT, but now for the Great American — water sources, camping options, and clear navigation through the gaps.
We're still finalizing the initial data and getting everything ready, but we're getting close. I'll share updates as we get closer to launch and as Bernie sends back field reports from the trail.
If you want to hear when Hiking America's Hiker Guides to the Great American Rail-Trail goes live, make sure you subscribe to this Hiking America newsletter or our new Substack channel. — That's where we'll share it first.
As mentioned in this week's email to Hiking America members, HikingAmerica.com was designed from the outset to be an ultimate planning resource for multi-long-distance trails. The American Discovery Trail was our first love, and we will continue to update and improve our data.
But coming soon, we will begin adding the same helpful tracks, Waypoints, Turn-By-Turn Directions, and Hiker Notes to this new cross-country hiking adventure –
The Great American Rail-Trail!
Hike Your Hike - John.
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